Athletes Now Face No-f Rule

Student-athletes at Waukegan High School who are failing a course are supposed to be ineligible for competition.

At least, that was the school board's intent last year when it passed those strict eligibility guidelines for the 1995-96 school year.

But inconsistent enforcement has given the 102 student-athletes who would be affected by that policy a second chance. They will now all be able to compete and have until March 1 to eliminate any failing grades or be declared ineligible, the school board ruled Tuesday night.

A no-failures policy was adopted by the Waukegan Unit School District 60 Board of Education last spring, but has not been strictly enforced because of miscommunication between the board and athletic officials responsible for making week-to-week eligibility checks, district officials said.

"I'm not sure where the communication broke down, but last semester they were still using the Illinois High School Association rules, which we feel are inadequate," said Robert Taylor, board vice president.

IHSA rules say that a student must pass four classes plus physical education every semester in order to be eligible for athletics. But that formula would leave student-athletes at Waukegan four credits short of the 24 required for graduation. So the school board wanted a policy that would put student-athletes on track for graduation in four years. Thus, the no-F policy.

"All the policy says is that we expect athletes to be able to graduate in four years, just like we expect everybody else to," Taylor said.

Students eligible for the amnesty are those whose first-semester grades would have barred them from competition. The no-failure policy remains in force for all other students and will be fully implemented after March.

Ten tutoring sessions are scheduled for affected students. Attendance at seven of those sessions is mandatory for eligibility.

The no-F policy has been criticized by parents and students who say that it can take away the only motivation some students have to go to school in the first place.

And, said senior athlete Tim Brousseau, 18, the letter of the policy is also inconsistent with its spirit. In a short presentation to the board Tuesday, Brousseau questioned the wisdom of a policy that makes a student with four A's and one F "in that impossible physics class" ineligible while a student with five D's can still compete.

Brousseau also warned the board of the dangers of idle hands.

"When you take a kid away from sports you take him away from the team attitude and togetherness that keeps him out of trouble," Brousseau told the board in a tearful speech.

A three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball, Brousseau was not affected by the no-failure policy, but said he chose not to play basketball this year, creating a vacuum in his social life.

"I had the option to play, but some kids don't," he said. "When this no-F's rule goes into effect, it will send kids to places they don't want to go."

Former board member Theodore Potkonjak voted against the policy last year, saying that a minimum C average should be necessary for athletic eligibility. He reiterated his opposition Tuesday.

Efforts to reach Waukegan High School athletic director Wilbur Borrero Wednesday were unsuccessful.